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Crafting a Culture of Caring—and Learning—in Middle School

October 4, 2017

Orienteering and orientation, norm setting and night hikes, team challenges and tree art . . . Investing time and energy in a wide range of co-curricular activities during the first month of school is already paying big dividends at Principia Middle School.

“All of this foundation work—how you collaborate, how you work as a team, how you operate and cooperate outside the classroom environment—has an impact on how students learn,” says Middle School Assistant Principal Sam Dry. The aim of the first week of school—dubbed “O-Week” for Orientation Week—as well as a recent two-night retreat in the bucolic Shaw Nature Reserve is to establish an environment where all students “feel safe, valued, and heard,” she says. Opportunities like these for students to get to know each other and their teachers outside the classroom are especially important given the Middle School’s emphasis on integrated, project-based learning and group work.

During the retreat, students worked in teams to create natural “sculptures” in the woods from found materials such as twigs, leaves, acorns, and even animal bones—in the manner of innovative British artist Andy Goldsworthy, about whom they had watched a video. On an outdoor “gallery walkthrough,” each group explained the process of creating their artwork and what it represented. One sculpture of intertwined branches and sticks, titled “Balance,” a student explained, showed how important—and difficult—it is to make sure all elements work together and, in this case, literally, “support each other.” The student went on to illustrate the relevance of balance and mutual support to their group, sharing that, during night hikes, a few students who were fearful of the dark found comfort from their friends and faculty members.

Thanks to “the intentionality and common language” that permeate the various culture-building activities both on and off campus, Spanish-language teacher Mary Beth Cox (C’08) explains, “students support each other—and hold each other accountable.” And they contribute to a sense of ownership and individual and collective responsibility for learning and respecting each other, she adds. The result is an environment where high peer-expectations and peer-support are the norm, so students feel free to speak up and take intellectual risks.

Even as the students have engaged in problem-solving and communication tasks, they have also had multiple opportunities to just have fun playing together and competing in their three Houses or in multi-grade teams. The teachers get into the spirit of the activities as well, and students get to see them in a new light.

In fact, on the recent retreat, the teachers in the girls’ lodge stayed up into the night talking and giggling—until a student, deputed by her peers, came down the stairs to remind them of the late hour. During a trip debrief meeting the next day, language arts teacher Holly Morris commended this student for being both courageous and courteous in making the request. And Dry pointed out to the students, “You can see that we teachers enjoy being with each other just as much as you guys do!”

This strong sense of unity and community, says Dr. Kim Ott, the Preschool–Grade 8 Principal, helps address issues before they arise and makes for a productive and fruitful year of student-centered learning.